a A R A 
fed emporium or harbour, where the Arabian merchants 
. Minted with their frankincenfe, fpices, and perfumes. 
Thefe two Were (ituated in the province of Yarnan. In 
that of Hejaz flood the hill more famous cities of Mecca 
and Medina ; alfo Thaifa or Taifa, Gjudda or.Jodda, 
Yanbo or A 1 Yanbo, and Madian, the Modiana of Pto¬ 
lemy, and the Midian or Madian of Scripture. Of the 
time when thefe kingdoms were fil'd peopled, we have no 
certain accounts. The mod condderable nations inhabit¬ 
ing Arabia Petraea, in the early ages, were the Iflimae- 
litcs, the Nabatei or Nabatlieans, the Cednei or Kedareni, 
and the Agareni or Hagareni; and of thefe the Ifhmaelites 
were the mod powerful, if they did not comprehend all 
the red; and, if the Hagareni were net the fame people 
with them, they mud at lead, have been nearly related. 
Kiinchi, an oriental hidorian, inlinuates,. that they were 
originally the children of ilagar by an Arab, after Ihe had 
left Abraham. In after-ages, the names of all the nations 
(ituated here were abforbed in that of Saracens, by which 
t he Ifhmaelites are didinguiflfe'd in the Jerufalem Targurn. 
A nation alfo mentioned by Pliny, called Arraceni, and 
Sarraceni by Ptolemy and Diofcorides, which was probably 
no other than the Ifhmaelites above mentioned. In Ara¬ 
bia Deferta feveral tribes redded, all of whom were very 
obfeure, except the Aidtae and Agrrei. The former are 
fuppofed by Bochart to have been Job’s-countrymen, and 
the latter to have been the fame witli the Hagareni, Ar¬ 
raceni, or Sarraceni, above mentioned. Arabia Feiix was 
inhabited by many different tribes ; the mod remarkable 
of which were the Sabaei, Gerrrei, Minae or Miniuei, A- 
tramitse, Maranitae, Catabani, Afcitce, Komeriue, Sap- 
phoritae, Omanitce, Saraceni, Nabatluei, Thamydeni, and 
Bnizomense ; but neither their limits nor dtuation can now 
be determined with any precidon. 
According to the oriental hidorians, the Arabs are to 
be divided into two clalfes; viz. the old IJ Arabians, and 
the prejent. The mod famous tribes among the former 
were thofe of Ad, Thamud, Tafm, Jades, Jorham, A- 
malek, Amtem, Hafoem, Abil, and Bar. Concerning 
thefe, though now entirely lod and fwallowed up among 
other tribes, there are forne remarkable traditions, of 
which the following may ferve as a fpecimen. The tribe 
of Ad deduced their origin from Ad the fon of Aws, or 
Uz, the fon of Aram, the fon of Shem, who, after the 
contudon of tongues, fettled in A 1 Abkaf, or the winding 
fands in the province of Hadramant, on the confines of 
Yarnan, where his poderity greatly multiplied. Their 
fird king was S'neddad, the fon of Ad, who built a dately 
palace and made a delightful garden in the deferts of A- 
den, which he defigned as an imitation of the celedial 
paradife. This garden he called Iran: and, when it was 
finifhed, he fet out with a great retinue to take pofTeffion 
of it; but, having feme thoughts of alfuming divine ho¬ 
nours, he was dedroyed by a temped' from heaven, while 
yet a day’s journey from his paradife. The garden and 
palace are faid to have been, pteferved, as a monument of 
divine vengeance. After the death of Sheddad, the king¬ 
dom of Ad was governed by along feries of princes, con¬ 
cerning whom many fables are related by the eadern wri¬ 
ters. The conclufion of their hidory, however, is as fol¬ 
lows. “ The Adites, in procefs of time, falling into ido¬ 
latry, God lent the prophet Hud, fuppofed to be the fame 
with Heber, to preach to and reclaim them. But they re¬ 
fusing to acknowledge his million, or to obey him, God 
fent an hot and fuftbeating wind, which blew feven nights 
and eight days, and, entering at their nodrils, paded through 
their bodies, and dedroyed them all, a very few only ex¬ 
cepted, who had lidened to Hud, and retired with him 
to another place.” Others relate, “ that, before this ter¬ 
rible catadrophe, they had been previoufly chadifed with a 
three years drought; and therefore they fent Kail Ebn Ithar, 
and Morthed Ebn Sdaa, with 70 other principal men, to 
Mecca, then in the hands of the tribe of Amalek, whole 
prince was Moavviyah Ebn Beer, to pray for rain. Kail 
having begged of God that he would lend rain to tire 
B I A. 
people of Ad, three clouds appeared, a white, a red, and’ 
a black one ; and a voice from heaven ordered him to cboofe 
winch he would. Kail failed not to make choice of the lad, 
thinking it would be laden with mod rain; but, when this 
cloud came over them, it proved to be fraught with a vio¬ 
lent temped, which dedroyed them ail. 
The prejent Arabs, according to their own hidorians, are 
fpru.ng from Kahtan, the fame with Joktan, the fon of 
Eber; and Adnan, defeended from. Illimael tire fon of A- 
braham. The former of thefe they call th e. genuine or pure 
Arabs, and the latter the naturalized or injititious Arabs. 
Joktan the fon of Eber had 13 fons, who fome time after 
the confufion of tongues, fettled in Arabia, extending 
themfelves from Media to Sephar, in the Couth-eaflem 
part ot that peninfula. According to the Arabian hido¬ 
rians, he had 31 fons, all of whom left Arabia and went 
into India, except two, viz. Yarab and Jorham ; the for¬ 
mer of whom, they fay, gave the name both to-their-cou n- 
try and language. Idimael and his mother Hagar, having 
been difmiffed by Abraham, entered into the wildernefs-. 
of Paran, as related in the book of Genefis. The facred 
hidorian informs us, that during his refidence in the wil- 
dernefs he married an Egyptian ; and the Arabian writers, 
fay that he alio took to wife tile daughter cf Modad king 
ot Hejaz, lineally defeended from Jorham the founder of 
that kingdom. By the Egyptian he was probably the fa¬ 
ther of the Scenite or wild Arabs and having allied him— 
felt to the Jorhamites, he is confidered by tits Arabians as 
the father of the greated part of their nation. 
Kahtan, or Joktan, is laid to have fird reigned, and 
worn a diadem, in Yarnan ; hut the particulars of his reign 
we no where learn. He was fucceeded by Yarah already 
mentioned, lie by Yadiab, and Yafliab by Abd Shenis.. 
He was fuccefsful in his expeditions againd his enemies,, 
carried off great fpoils, and took many of them prifoners. 
He is faid to have built the city of Saba or Mareb, and 
above it a dupendous mound or building which formed a 
vad refervoir, containing all the water that came down 
from the mountains. By means of this refervoir the kings 
ot Yarnan not only fuppiied the inhabitants of Saba and 
their lands with water, but like wife kept the territories, 
they had fubdued in greater awe, as by cutting off their 
communication 'with it they could at any time greatly dif— 
trefs them. Abd Shenis was fucceeded by his fon Ham- 
yar, from whom the tribe of Hamyar is faid to take its 
name; and he by a feries of 17 kings, concerning whom 
we have no remarkable particular, except that from one 
of them, called Africus, the continent of Africa took its 
name. The lad of thefe was fucceeded by a daughter 
named Balkis or Bdkis, whom fome will have to be the 
queen of Sheba who vifited Solomon. After Balkis came 
Malea, furnained NaJIierolneam on account of his magnifi¬ 
cence and liberality. Having bad bad fuccefs in an ex¬ 
pedition, where his army was overwhelmed by torrents of 
land, lie caufed a brazen fratue to be erefted with the 
following infeription in the old Hainyaritic character. 
“ There is no paffage behind me, no moving farther; the 
fon of Sharliabil.” He was fucceeded by Shamar Yaraafh, 
fo called on account of his being affeited witli a condant 
tremor. To this prince the city, cf Samarcand is faid to 
owe its exidence. After Shamar Yaraafh we have a lid 
of 15 kings, of whom nothing remarkable is recorded, ex* 
cept of one Abu Carb Afaad, who adorned the Caaba or 
temple of Mecca with tapedry, and fird introduced Ju- 
daifm among the Hamyarites. He was put to deatli by his 
fubjedts, probably on account of religion. The lad of 
the 15 kings above mentioned was called Abrahah, who 
was fucceeded by his fon Sabban. He had that famous 
fword called Samfannah, which afterwards came into the 
hands of the klialif A 1 Rafiiid. This prince was fucceed j 
ed by Dim Shanater, who had fix fingers on each.hand. 
He was abandoned to unnatural luft, and dethroned.for 
abiding fome of the nobled youths in the kingdom. To 
him fucceeded Yufef, who lived about 70 years before 
Mahomet. He perfecuted all thofe who would not turn 
Jews 8 
